An Answer for Everything is a fascinating volume that encompasses questions, data and design. Rob Orchard, Christian Tate and Marcus Webb launched the slow journalism magazine Delayed Gratification in 2011, and since then, the magazine has become known in part for its eye-catching infographics, which portray narratives about some of the world's biggest news stories in visually digestible ways. The authors write, "The world is a delightful, baffling, wondrous and worrisome place and for over a decade we've been using data to try to make sense of it," noting that the book collects updated infographics from the magazine along with new visualizations "to answer questions ranging from the serious to the silly."
While dominated by full-page illustrations with interwoven text, the book also includes a handy "how to navigate this book" section at the beginning, as well as a comprehensive index, so that the information inside can be parsed according to readers' interests. Whether that's who the greatest athlete is, how much it would cost to purchase everything in Vogue magazine, or deeper questions about climate change, global conflict and life as a human being, there is something to capture everyone's and anyone's attention here.
Orchard, Tate and Webb provide perhaps one of the most comprehensive overviews of what preoccupies the mind in this contemporary moment in a deeply attractive yet still data-driven way. Those who enjoyed David Macaulay and Neil Ardley's The Way Things Work series are sure to be enthralled by this volume. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer